Huge praise on an Oilers underrated forward: "He's got some God-given talent"

Isaac Howard is fighting for a job in Mike Babcock's lineup at Oilers training camp this week.

Through three days of camp in Edmonton, the 22-year-old winger has looked like a bull in a china shop, hanging onto pucks and finishing with authority.

Howard scored two goals and five points in 29 games with Edmonton last season, spending most of his year with AHL Bakersfield instead.

"I think to my standards, it wasn't what I wanted," Howard said Friday. "But I think there's a lot of great lessons I took from it, to help me grow as a player."

Matthew Savoie is listed day-to-day, expected out until at least Oct. 20, and that opens a top-six lane next to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

So why is a depth winger drawing this much attention three days into rookie camp? Savoie's injury is the reason.

Bakersfield coach Colin Chaulk watched him transform from a pure scorer into someone who could check, track pucks and kill penalties down last season's stretch.

Savoie's injury timeline clears space beside McDavid

"With about 30 games left in the American League season, Isaac came to me and said, 'Okay, I'm gonna be nasty defensively today,'" Chaulk said.

Michigan State associate coach Jared DeMichiel saw the same shift before Howard's junior year, when he won the Hobey Baker after 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games.

"He's not going to put a guy into row 10," DeMichiel said. "But he's not gonna be afraid to get over the top of a 50/50 puck, sandpaper and snarl included."

Edmonton finished 41-30-11 for 93 points last season, ranking 14th overall. The Oilers closed strong, riding a one-game streak into the offseason after a 6-1 win over the Canucks.

Howard logged just 26:12 of five-on-five ice time with McDavid last season and 6:34 with Draisaitl, though he scored his first NHL goal with both of them on the ice.

Babcock isn't known to hand out easy passes to skilled kids, and that history looms over every drill Howard runs through this week.

Camp battles get settled in games, not practices, and the next real test for Howard comes with roster cuts looming before the Oilers open the season against the Canucks.